Message for Rob Barnes

I recently came across the issues on your site regarding the above company.  This is my second year with them and have found the customer service appalling and emailed them to this effect earlier this year.  Last year I never sent my claims by recorded delivery but by ordinary first class post, no problems at all.  Following one of my sons suffering loss (got no cashback) I decided to send in my claims and obtained certificates of posting from the post office.  My first claim was paid but it took 2 months to get the cheque.  When I sent in my second claim and did not get my cheque immediately I was not worried as it had taken 2 months for the first claim to come through.  I decided to ring them after about 6 weeks only to be told surprise, surprise they had not received my claim and therefore it invalidated any future claims.  One of my other son's has telephoned me today and is quite upset as he had always previously sent his claims by recorded delivery but had followed my process and just obtained a certificate of posting, only to be told by the company today again surprise, surprise they had not received his claim, stands to lose approx £209 and I stand to lose Almost £300, not a bad profit for them.

I note you comment that he seems a reasonable chap on your blog well maybe he would like to tell my son and I why we would be writing to his company with certificates of posting to prove it, if it were not for cashback claims.  I am going to fight this company through the courts if necessary and make as much fuss as I can in order that everyone is aware of this unscrupulous Company who are advertising cashback mobile deals on the web with no intention of paying the cashback.  Had I not followed the process to the letter I would not be making such a fuss but I have sent off original bills and claim forms almost immediately on receipt of my telephone bill.

I would also like to point out that it is not a condition of the Contract that you send your claims by recorded delivery but only a recommendation.  Of course if you don't send it by recorded delivery it is easier for them to say they have not received it.

I believe obtaining a certificate of posting should be sufficient, as I said previously for what other reason would I be writing to the Company other than for cashback claims, and it is easy to identify as the dates are within a week of receiving my bill.

I am sorry Mr Barnes from experience I cannot agree your sentiments, I think that this Company are ripping off customers BE WARNED.

Cool New Mobile

 

We recommend you send all claim paperwork by recorded delivery, as proof of sending is not proof of delivery. Where an item goes missing in the post and you haven't got our valid recorded delivery signature, then the item will be regarded unclaimed.

Recorded delivery allows compensation of a maximum of 100 x a first class stamp.

Special delivery allows compensation of a maximum of £500.

PROOF OF POSTING – A BIG FAT ZERO. AND IT COSTS A BIG FAT ZERO.

 

Rob Barnes to me Wed, May 09 2007 10:49am

“Cashback deals tend to get a bad press these days - however if you stick to the larger well known retailers you should be ok. MAKE SURE YOU READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BEFORE AND AFTER YOU BUY!!!

Follow these terms TO THE LETTER and make sure you keep records of ALL your correspondence, sending all mail by recorded delivery (and keeping the receipts)

I would take a look at all the retailers on our site - if you connect via our site we will manage any issues for you.

You might want to look at asda.com mobile phones as they provide a gift card sent automatically to you after three months.....

Remember, cashbacks work - but only if you follow the rules set out by the retailer. People do get their money in most cases.”

I have re read Cool New Mobile’s terms & conditions. My recommendation is by all means carry out an ill judged vendetta against Cool New Mobile BUT don’t on any account spend money on solicitors. IF YOU THINK I’M TALKING RUBBISH GET AN APPOINTMENT AT YOUR LOCAL CAB FOR A FREE HALF HOUR WITH A SOLICITOR.

And finally

You tried to do this on the cheap by cutting out RD and certainly SD (the wise course of action with originals if they were worth significantly more than 100 x the price of a first class stamp).

You’re upset and furious with yourself and have no peace of mind so instead of lashing out at the villain of the piece you, you give Rob Barnes and Cool New Mobile a ‘tongue lashing’.

I hold no brief for Rob Barnes and I am NOT a fan of Cool New Mobile just in case your retort is “you work for MS or Cool”.

I wish you well in coming to terms with your loss. :-)

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Carol

I can understand your concern and do symapthise with you. It must be extremely frustrating to have followed the requirements of the site only to be told that the letters have gone missing. I cannot comment on whether or not they actually received your claims but I would reiterate that the safest way to send any cashback claims is with proof of postage AND proof of delivery. It isnt fair that customers are forced to do this but it would at least ensure mail isnt "lost".

I am disappointed that you have had issues with one of the providers listed on our site - if you can email me directly with your customer reference/mobile numbers against which you are claiming cashback then I will take up this issue directly with CoolNewMobile

regards

Rob

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Rob Barnes
Head of Broadband & Mobile
moneysupermarket.com

I take objection to you stating that I give Rob Barnes a tongue lashing as this is not the case, I have every respect for him but I do give Cool New Mobile a tongue lashing.  I find it ironic if you don't work for Cool New Mobile that you are so defensive of them; especially when my son who lives in a different region from me and has always sent his recorded delivery, the first time he sends it with only a certificate of posting Cool New Mobile says they didn't receive it! .  I am angry and frustrated as I have been using these cashback services for a number of years now and this is the 1st year I have had a problem.  As I stated last year I used Cool New Mobile I only sent my claims by 1st class post and never had a problem.  You're probably not interested but following legal advice, I wrote to their customer services by recorded delivery and sent in another cashback claim with a certificate of posting at the same time, at the same Post Office, and surprisingIy (or not) the customer services got their letter, but the office where I sent the cashback claim said say they did not receive it. 

Finally, I would also like to say I find your response quite aggressive and rude.

Thank you, I will get the information and be in touch

I note your comment.

Not a problem - it is imperative that we maintain visibility of provider issues when they are listed on the site. After all we have a responsibility to ensure service levels and protect our brand.

Carol, the following comment is not directed at you in any way, merely a general comment.....

One thing I would say to forum users is that cashback has been causing issues for many years now -  every single retailer has had issues raised at one time or another for non payment, difficult terms, loss of paperwork etc etc. There are a lot of "dodgy" retailers out there and we all need to be careful. None of the UK mobile retailers are 100% perfect - forms get lost (genuinely!), customer service agents aren't always perfectly trained etc etc - this happens across every single business in operation today, not just mobile industry.

There are many credible, honest retailers out there who do pay cashbacks (I would point you to a new provider on our site - mobiles.co.uk who have a fantastic approach to customer service) the majority of whom we list on our site. Until demand for cashback deals shifts, we at moneysupermarket are duty bound due to our impartiality, to list these deals.

regards

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Rob Barnes
Head of Broadband & Mobile
moneysupermarket.com

Hi

I have been using cashback sites for 2 years for both me and my wife and have never had any problems untill now. And guess with who?? Cool New Mobile. My first cashback claim I sent them was on the 01st April 2007 (recorded delivery) and too this day I have still not recieved my cheque, although, they have said, that they have posted it and to get back to them on the 12th July 2007 if I still have not recieved it buy then. Fair Enough.

However, my second cashback claim whick I sent them in June for the month of May (non recorded delivery) they are now claiming they have not recieved. I specifically phoned them a few days after posting asking them whether they had recieved my claim and they said 'Yes' and now only to be told 'No' is beyond frustration. I just think it is too much of a co-insidence and I think this company must be a rip off.

I followed there rules to the letter and sent in my original bill within 30 days of receiving. The thing I find most frustrating is the fact that it is ok for them to delay my 1st cashback cheque and I be all sympathetic about it but when the tables are turned they dont give a toss.

 Any help in the matter would be much appreciated. I too am going to take this further.

Salaama,

I too have suffered from the "Lost 2nd Claim" Cool New Mobile scam.

 I could have copied your email to describe my experience- the long wait for the first cheque, lost 2nd claim and even the dates are the same.

 I did not send recorded delivery and now I am desperate to be able to claim the remainder of my cashback.

 Any advice would be most appreciated.

nt_1

I dont think there is any point in writting a letter of complaint to the company as they will only repeat there rhetoric rubbish of we didnt receive your claim. I am going to be writting to Watchdog instead. The chances are Watchdog may do nothing but the more people I can get to complain the more seriously they will take the complaint.

If anybody has anymore advice on this please can you help!!

 

Hello

I thought I was the only one! Reading these posts makes me wonder how they can get away with this.

I've done a little thinking about their contract, which, they so readily exploit in their favour.

I believe that if Mobile Affiliates voids future claims if one is not claimed on time etc etc........ Then surely they have a duty of care/responsibility under any retail contract, to advise a person in writing that a claim has not been recieved and may therefore void the remaining cashback. Without a clause or a rule such as this to protect the purchaser, the retailer is left wide open to exploit the obvious.

I'm not a lawyer or trading standards person but it seems that an outside organisation, such as trading standards needs to take a serious look at Mobile Affiliates contract.

Another interesting point, is that nearly all of these internet cashback companys have something to do with Carphone Warehouse. Their telephone sales people admitted to me that 'not recieving your claim' was a regular accurance amongst these third party retailers. CPW apparently offer a garanteed cashback directly through them. Not to me they don't, I'm still trying to prise my way out of my current contract with them (which was sold to me by Cool new mobles) we'll see how I get on; maybe they'll not receive my 30 day cancelation letter!  

I will try to get the time to write to bbc/watchdog. See what comes of it.   

Hi,

I joined Cool New Mobile (Mobile Affiliates) in December 06, was really excited about this new mobile phone / contract that I had received., so I printed off all my claim forms and terms and conditions so I would have this all to hand when I needed to claim. This is where the problem came in, I sent of my first cashback request (as per the terms and conditions and by registered post aswell!) only to receive a letter from them stating that I have incorrectly claimed as I did not attach the tariff summary page and they would deduct me £10.00 admin charge..Which of course I had to swallow as I did not attach this.  But in all fairness when I referred back to my terms and conditions that I had printed this was not clearly stated until I referred back to the website to notice they had added some more conditions.  That was in April this year.  To this date I still have not received my cheque, which they have advised this is in the post.. 

I have now sent off my second cashback claim form, carefully completed this time all the requested documentation which was the claim form, mobile bill showing phone number and tariff charges. 4 pages we sent in total.  I received a letter from Mobile affiliates yesterday advising that I have made a incomplete claim and my cashback claim has been closed and cannot be reopened.  As you can imagine I am absolutely astonished how this Company can get away with this.  I contacted them by email last night, only to receive a reply today stating the following:

"I have checked they paperwork received, which is verified by two competent people on receipt. That we only received one page of your bill and a claim form."

Therefore the claim was incomplete.

Kind Regards

Mobile Affiliates

This is absolutely ridiculous and they just don't want to know.  They request you to send your claims by "Recorded Delivery" so you have proof that you have sent the claim, then if you do that, they then discard some of the paperwork and say " Some paperwork was missing so incomplete claim". So either way they get out of paying you. I am now in the process of going to a small claims court for my money.  I am not letting these dishonest people get away with my money.  Now I have found this chat forum and I see that other people have had problems with them, I know I am not alone.  If anyone is going to write to watchdog, let me know as I am willing to contact them too as basically they are conning us.

I have also had a lot of problems with Cool New Mobile, having never previously experienced any issues with cashback deals.  One of the very dodgy things they do is continually change the terms and conditions under which you can claim.  I now see that you have to submit your claims within 21 days, although 2 months ago it was within 28 days.  One of the difficulties I have encountered is that they put me on an Orange contract that offers only online billing - you are not able to even opt for paper billing.  Having accepted my first 2 claims, they then without warning said they no longer accepted on line bills and tried to turn my claim down.  I persevered (but it took about 1 hour of phone calls and lots of effort) and they paid it.  However, they said I have to submit paper copies now, so I have to pay Orange an additional £3 for a COPY? bill.  The problem I anticipate with this claim is that you cannot request a copy until 15th of the month, and although I requested it immediately I could, it has not yet arrived, so I cannot meet their 21 day deadline.  I am waiting until it does to take up the fight with them again.

Certainly, I would NEVER recommend them or their customer service to anyone.  They are rude, unhelpful, fail to answer the phone, cut you off and won't tell you the truth.  When I have cancelled this contract, I will tell everyone I know to avoid them like the plague!

 

To Rob Barnes,
As this company is advertised on your site you must take some responsibility for their actions.
Having dealt with cashback phone deals for a couple of years I am well aware of the terms and conditions, and have always sent forms by special delivery as they have to sign for my actual letter. I understand from the post office that if I send it recorded the company just sign for, say, 25 received today and my actual letter would not be signed for individually.
However this does not protect the customer from their latest scam which seems to happen quite a lot as 3 out of 4 people that I know using mobile-affliates have had the same letter. It always says "you didn't send in all of your bill, and consequently you are in breach and will not receive payment". Bearing in mind that I have done this many times before ,received cheque back and gone to the bother and cost of sending by special delivery, I am unlikely not to include all the paperwork with my letter and comply with all their requirements.
If they can get out of their commitment in this contract by just saying that they didn't get the paperwork, even though I know I sent it, then it makes a sham of the whole process.
It is interesting to note that they always confirm that the claim has been received,(so they must have opened it) and that they are now sending it to their claims processing unit. Is it possible that part of the paperwork never gets there ? There is no indication to say what they received and what they pass on.
In conclusion it is high handed of these people to just disregard claims as and when they see fit when honest people have fulfilled all of their requirements. If you are unable to sort this out then perhaps it is time to start action against them and to make known their dishonest actions, and obviously your recommendation of this company may well be questioned. Watchdog is the obvious first choice but the Office of Fair Trading has advised that one should proceed to court as they will need to prove that their trail of procedures in their office is not at fault. Obviously I would not send incomplete paperwork as it is in my interest to get it right. For them to say they did not receive it is not good enough.
Your comments would be helpful although I shall proceed against mobile affiliates regardless, your intervention may well help those who are more easily deterred from action and many of those can least afford it.

Rob,

 This company tries every trick in the book to wriggle out of paying cash back to the point of which trading standards need to be notified to deal with them. I have used cashback deals for three years and never had a problem until this particular contract, my first one with Cool New Mobile. My first two cash back claims were settled promptly, my third was settled just about within the terms and the fourth took some chasing. The cheque had been drawn up but been withheld until funds were available. My fifth claim has been refused because, and this is the best bit, allegedly one page of my Orange bill (showing my address) wasn't included in the paperwork. There is a 14 day gap between them receiving my claim, opening and stamping documents, forwarding to claims department, and then finally notifying me of a false claim.

The reason i am confident that my administration was in order is that i had checked the contents of my envelope twice. Since first siging up in Jun 06 CNM changed their claim address, however my first 4 claims were received and processed having been sent to the original PO box. My 5th claim was returned to me as "addressee gone away", but thankfully i have always used the recorded delivery option. I queried this immediately with CNM and they abruptly told me that i had received 4 different remittance advices with the new address on it so i should have picked up on this. I always thought it was the company's duty to inform creditors specifically of a change of address? In their situation this is rather important don't you agree? Ironically at this point i had only received 3 chqs as the fourth chq was still somewhere on a desk being retained until they could afford to pay me back.  Anyway, i still had time to resend the 5 th claim so i removed the documents from the "returned" envelope and checked them as all present before sending them off in a new envelope to the new PO box, again by recorded delivery.

 I believe this company has big cash flow problems and they way it is set up is allowing for them to simply lose documents between mail receipt and claims assessment, at our expense and their saving. Im not surprised they struggle though as the types of people who search for good mobile deals i suspect are generally very good with their administration. 

Lets assume for argument's sake that someone has realistically left out their address page. The cashback procedure is there because CNM want to guarantee that we stay on the initial tarriff for the duration of the contract and not cancel or switch to a lessor tarriff. That proof has still been provided since the mobile number and tarriff are clearly shown on the other pages of the phone bill. Having probably recently banked the previous cashback cheque sent to their home address there is a very high probability that person has not moved house, and if they have , CNM's cheque will be returned unbanked, easing their short term cashflow situation.    

I shall be using the Small Claims Court to advance matters, and i feel Moneysupermarket should not be endorsing their offers until they trade fairly.

 Kind Regards,

 Fortune Cookie